Cargo tie-down



May 25, 1948. s 2,442,266

CARGO TIE-DOWN Filed April 9, 1945 IN I/111 1/01,

' INVENTOR. fx'm/wr-l. flaws mwk UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CARGOTIE-DOWN Frank L. Davis, College Point, N. Y.

Application April 9, 1945, Serial No. 587,340

2Claims.

justed and adapted to the load and to particular surrounding conditions,which will be entirely safe such as might be occasioned by the settlingof a load.

Other desirable objects and the novel features by which the purposes ofthe invention are attained are set forth or will appear in the course ofthe following specification.

The drawing accompanying and forming part of the specificationillustrates certain present embodiments of the invention. Structure,however, may be modified and changed as regards these particularillustrations, all within the true intent and broad scope of theinvention as hereinafter defined and claimed.

Fig. 1 in the drawing is a broken front or face view of one of thetie-down units;

Fig. 2 is a corresponding edge view of the same;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged broken sectional view as on substantially theplane of line 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged broken and part sectional view of the lengthadjusting and slack take-up buckle construction;

Fig. 5 is a broken sectional view of a modified form of the bucklestructure.

The unit shown in Figs. 1 and 2 comprises a single length of strap orwebbing I having a hook I or other means for anchoring it at one end,said strap extending about a pulley roll 9 on a hook or other attachingmeans ill and having the free end held in a special length adjusting andslack take-up buckle ,l i.

This buckle is shown as made up of a flat back or base plate i2 withupturned parallel flanges i3, it, along the opposite longitudinal edges.These flanges stiffen the plate and provide bearings for a pin or studi5 riveted or otherwise rigidly secured in said flanges parallel to theface of plate l2. On this pin the lever i6 is pivotally mounted, saidlever having an eccentric cam face i1 opposed to the adjoining face ofthe back plate. These opposed surfaces of back plate and cam may beroughened or corrugated substantially as 2 indicated at I8 to morefirmly grip the length of webbing extending between the same.

A spring is shown at i9, Fig. 4, connected between the cam lever and theadjoining edge flange i4, rocking this lever in a direction to carry thecam gripping surface of the lever convergently toward the companiongripping face of the back plate, thus to cause the lever toautomatically grip and hold the strap as the free end of the strap ispulled upwardly through the buckle.

To enable the buckle being set in different posi-.

tions along the length of the strap, the back plate is shown as havingtwo parallel slots 29, 2|,

through the same adjacent one end and a single transverse slot 22therethroughadjacent the other end, and the strap is shown threadedthrough these slots to produce an inner bight 22 and an outer bight 24,the first held at 25 by the overlying stretch of webbing extending downthe back of the plate and forwardly through slot 22 and the second heldat 26 by the overlying tensioned length of webbing 1.

Upon freeing the webbing of tension the buckle may be slipped along thewebbing by pulling the two reversely extending loops of webbing throughthe slots and when the desired positioning of the buckle on the webbingis efiected it can be immediately and positively secured in thatposition by simply putting the webbing under tension again.

This enables the units to be made up in certain standard lengths andthen adjusted at the point of use to suit any particular requirements.

In practice the end hook 8 may be'caught to a ring or other hold-downfixture and the strap be pulled out over the piece to be secured to apoint where the pulley hook in can be caught to another hold-downanchorage or other holding member, the buckle ll then being adjustedalong the strap one way or another, if need be, to leave enough of atake-up loop in that doubled portion of the strap 21 extending about thepulley roll 9 for tightening and slack take-up purposes.

The roll 9 being freely rotatable on the cross stud 28, operates as a,free turning pulley sheave providing purchase suflicient for tighteningthe webbing over any ordinary load by simply pulling upward on the freeend of the webbing at 29 exposed at the upper end of the. buckle aboveth cam lever. This free end may be doubled or otherwise thickened, asshown at 28, to prevent it from slipping through beneath the cam lever,in case 'of accidental release of the latter.

Accidental release of the cam lever may be guarded against by providinga safety catch, such as indicated at 30, for retaining the lever in thestrap holding position.

If greater leverage than that provided by a,

single pulley sheave is desired. one or more addi- The carrying of thewebbing down over the back of the buckle plate leaves the front of thisplate clear for threading and for the easy adjustment of the free end ofthe webbing.

The buckle plate may be adjusted to a point on the webbing where it willbe most convenient for tightening and taking up any slack. The pulleyconnection at this end provides a powerful means available at any timeto apply more tension and to take out any looseness that may havedeveloped during transportation. The full advantage of the pulley may beapplied by pulling with both hands on the free end of the webbing. Thecam lever, constituting a one-way holding element, yields to thistightening pull on the webbing and catches and holds the webbing as itis tensioned. While this spring action, automatic gripping lever form ofcam is desirable, it is contemplated that other forms of wedging or webgripping devices may be employed.

To prevent release of the lever by an accidental outward pull on thefree end of the strap, this portion of the strap may pass upward out ofthe buckle beneath a guard rod or bar 35.

The reversely facing, overlapping bights in the webbing, when loosened,permit the buckle to be readily slipped over the webbing one way or theother, but these automatically look upon each other as soon as thewebbing is put under tension,

firmly anchoring the buckle in the position to which it has beenadjusted and where it then serves in effect as a fixed end of thewebbing with a pulley connection extending therefrom for tensioning andtightening the overall extent of the complete unit. These tie-down unitsmay be made up in any length and be used singly, connected end-to-end,or made up in various parallel, diagonal or cross patterns, according tothe nature of the load and the transporting carrier.

While hooks such as shown at 8 and constitute practical and usuallydesirable end connections, it is appreciated that other forms of endattaching means may be employed. In the illustration the hooks shown areduplicates, each having a pulley roll 9 so that they may be usedinterchangeably in the relations shown.

The tie-down unit disclosed is light in weight, occupies but small spaceand when not in use can be rolled up compactly into a, small bundle. Thebody of the buckle may be made up from a single piece of sheet metalwith the edges rolled up to form the side flanges. These brace andstiffen the piece against bending and in addition to serving for themounting of the cam lever and other parts, they serve as side guardsprotecting this lever against accidental release.

The entire unit is free or objectionable projecting parts.

While usually sufllcient to have the pulley take-up connection only atone end, it is sometimes desirable to have these pulley connections atboth ends of the tie-down, particularly in cases where it may not becertain which end will be available or convenient for tightening andtaking up slack or where it may be desirable to have take-up sections ofdiflerent length at the opposite ends of the tie-down.

while flat webbing has many advantages and the invention contemplatesparticularly the use -1. A cargo tie-down comprising an elongated flatplate having substantially parallel edge flanges providing a strapguiding channel therebetween and having two parallel spaced slotsextending across the same between said flanges near one end and a singleslot extending across the same between the flanges near the oppositeend, a strap clamping member supported between the edge flanges at anintermediate point in the length of the plate between the cross slotsnear the opposite ends of the same, and a strap of a width to enter andbe guided between the edge flanges, said strap extending over the faceof the plate between said edge flanges, through the inner of the twoslots first mentioned to the opposite side of the plate, thence throughthe outer of the two slots to the first side of the plate beneath theportion of the strap at that side, thence to the back of the plate andover that portion of the strap at the back of the plate and through theslot at the opposite end of the plate to the front side of the plate,and said strap then being doubled in a return loop and the end portionof the same extending over the front side of the plate between theslotted portions and beneath and adjustably held by said clampingmember.

2. A cargo tie-down comprising a single length of webbing usable up tosubstantially its full longitudinal extent, means attached to one end ofsaid webbing for detachably connecting that end of the webbing with ananchorage, a selflocking buckle slidably engaged on said webbing betweenthe opposite ends of the same and having means for automatically lockingthe same in positions to which it may be adjusted lengthwise of thewebbing, a second means for detachable connection with a secondanchorage, said second connecting means having a pulley forming element,the opposite end portion of said webbing being looped about said pulleyforming element and doubled back to where said buckle is locked inposition on the single length portion of the webbing and adjustabletake-up means on said self-locking buckle for securing said lastmentioned end of the webbing in the position to which it may be drawntight over said pulley forming element.

FRANK L. DAVIS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 330,213 Deweese Nov. 10, 1885332,107 Rankin Dec. 8, 1885 705,629 Abbee July 29, 1902 984,941 LarkinsFeb. 21, 1911 1,038,000 Schaefer Sept. 10, 1912 1,208,667 I Sammel Dec.12, 1916 1,212,622 Gilberthorpe Jan. 16, 1917 2,271,133 Thoresen Jan.27, 1942 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 26,793 Great Britain 1913144,888 Switzerland Apr. 16, 1931

